Community health workers (CHWs) play a significant role in Primary health Care due to their proximity to households, communities and the health care system. Many studies focus on CHWs and the work they do. However, few have examined their experiences and identity and how that might influence how the...y view and perform their roles. The objectives of the study were to: Describe the role of CHWs in community-based health care in Northern Cape, Identify the perceived barriers and enablers to CHWs role performance, Explore CHWs views regarding the support from the communities and the formal healthcare system in Northern Cape. An exploratory qualitative design using focus groups was adopted. Forty-six (46) CHWs were purposively selected using the critical case sampling approach. Data were collected through three focus group interviews in three regions. Analysis followed the Graneheim & Lundman thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from data: perceived contribution to Primary Health Care, recognition of CHWs role, measures to improve working conditions. Findings showed that CHWs were engaged in various health and social care roles, they believed that they made a significant contribution to PHC, and that the health system persistently relied on their services. The enabler for finding meaning in their work was the positive community response and the good relations they had with the team leaders. The major barrier was the structure of the CHWs programme and the perceived lack of support by the government. The complex issues CHWs address in the community call for a review of their roles and workload as well as the support they receive from the formal healthcare system.
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The report and an accompanying series of studies show the global uptake of the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist in its first ten years since its launch and recommend ways the Checklist can be more effectively used to improve surgical safety for millions at risk.
The report ...found that uptake has been remarkably positive: the Checklist has been adopted in almost 90% of operating rooms in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI), a country-level measure of health, education, and standard of living. It was referenced by at least 139 (70%) of the world's countries and is included as a national standard by the health ministries of at least 20 countries. The Checklist has also had beneficial qualitative impact, introducing a culture of safety and improved communication within surgical teams, increasing patient trust, and improving job satisfaction.
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This toolkit has been developed by the ZAZI campaign for use by peer educators, community outreach workers, faith-based organisations, and traditional health practitioners to help facilitate participatory discussions on sexual and reproductive health with women aged between 20 and 49 years of age. T...he toolkit is divided in 10 content sections
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This Communications Toolkit is intended to provide practical guidance and support to staff and partners who are looking to increase their communications capacity. It has been developed as a resource for project staff who work at field-level, to help them communicate responsibly, creatively, and effe...ctively about their work
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Introduction Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly being tasked to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors in underserved populations in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs); however, little is known about the required training necessary for them to ...accomplish their role. This review aimed to evaluate the training of CHWs for the prevention and management of CVD and its risk factors in LMICs.
Methods A search strategy was developed in line with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, and five electronic databases (Medline, Global Health, ERIC, EMBASE and CINAHL) were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies published until December 2016 on the training of CHWs for prevention or control of CVD and its risk factors in LMICs. Study characteristics were extracted using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and quality assessed using Effective Public Health Practice Project’s Quality Assessment Tool. The search, data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two researchers.
Results The search generated 928 articles of which 8 were included in the review. One study was a randomised controlled trial, while the remaining were before–after intervention studies. The training methods included classroom lectures, interactive lessons, e-learning and online support and group discussions or a mix of two or more. All the studies showed improved knowledge level post-training, and two studies demonstrated knowledge retention 6 months after the intervention.
Conclusion The results of the eight included studies suggest that CHWs can be trained effectively for CVD prevention and management. However, the effectiveness of CHW trainings would likely vary depending on context given the differences between studies (eg, CHW demographics, settings and training programmes) and the weak quality of six of the eight studies. Well-conducted mixed-methods studies are needed to provide reliable evidence about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of training programmes for CHWs.
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BMJ Global Health2020;5:e002786. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002786
Guidelines
UNAIDS/WHO working group on global HIV/AIDS and STI surveillance
August 2015
HIV strategic information for impact
A printable copy of the article published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) can be found on the CDC Homepage. Follow the Download Link for redirection to CDC.
Some of the key findings of the report include:
Almost 80% of the general public are concerned about developing dementia at some point and 1 in 4 people think that there is nothing we can do to prevent dementia
35% of carers across the world said that they have hidden the diagnosis of de...mentia of a family member
Over 50% of carers globally say their health has suffered as a result of their caring responsibilities even whilst expressing positive sentiments about their role
Almost 62% of healthcare providers worldwide think that dementia is part of normal ageing
40% of the general public think doctors and nurses ignore people with dementia
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Pneumonia kills more children than any other illness – more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Over 2 million children die from pneumonia each year, accounting for almost 1 in 5 under five deaths worldwide. Yet, little attention is paid to this disease. This joint UNICEF/WHO report examines ...the epidemiological evidence on the burden and distribution of pneumonia and assesses current levels of treatment and prevention. It is a call to action to reduce pneumonia mortality, a key step towards the achievement of the millennium development goal on child mortality.
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The purpose of this document is to share good practices and processes concerning the inclusion of disability issues in HIV policy and programming, drawing on specific experiences in Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Cambodia and on lessons learned at international AIDS conferences.
Since February 24th, 2022, the beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, more than 80,000 women were expected to give birth. Therefore, understanding the impact of war on the perinatal health of women is an important requisite to improve perinatal care. This narrative synthesis has two mai...n purposes: on one hand, it aims to summarize the current evidence available based on perinatal health outcomes and care among perinatal women; on the other, it attempts to identify the gaps still present in research in relation to perinatal care.
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African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 11, Issue 1, March 2021, Pages 132-139
The aims of this publication is to highlight the lack of diversity in medical literature and education
The Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series consists of country-based reviews that provide a detailed description of a health system and of reform and policy initiatives in progress or under development in a specific country.
Surveys are needed to guide trachoma control efforts in Mozambique, with WHO guidelines for intervention based on the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation–follicular (TF) in children aged 1–9 years and the prevalence of trichiasis in adults aged 15 years and above. We conducted surveys to com...plete the map of trachoma prevalence in Mozambique, concluding that it still represents a significant public health problem in many areas of Mozambique.
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02 - Series on Disability-Inclusive Development
The use of explosive weapons, such as bombs, rockets, and mortar and
artillery shells, in cities, towns and villages and in other populated areas
has devastating humanitarian consequences. Explosive weapons act mainly
through the projection of blast and fragmentation wi...thin an area. Their use,
in populated areas, causes severe suffering to civilians, both in terms of
death and serious injury resulting directly from the explosion, and in terms
of damage to property and public infrastructure, which can indirectly affect
civilian well-being and survival, sometimes for many years after a conflict
has ended. Explosive weapons also leave behind explosive remnants that
pose a threat to populations until those remnants are removed. [...] The study finds that the regulation of explosive weapons under international
law and policy is fragmentary and incoherent.
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